Retirement
by Adriarnna
Summary: What if you survived a war and started a family to only loose it all. A revered Darth of the Empire seeks help with her pain from the only people in the galaxy she trusts. Those she once called enemy. Are they really that different after all?
1. Chapter 1

**Retirement**

**A Star Wars Story**

"The dead haunt me."

"Why do you say that?" Gar'vin knew it was a poor question but the sudden comment from the red-skinned Twi'lek had taken him by surprise.

"Because." She returned to staring out of the window towards the distant mountains.

"Because? Because what? Fear, guilt, you see them, you dream about them or you hear them?" He was out of his depths and knew it. He was a healer of the body not the mind and this sort of question as an answer to a question double talk drove him batty. He did not really expect an answer as he was still recovering from this strange woman's sudden desire to speak. After all, almost three months in the medical annex of the Tython Jedi Temple without saying a single word makes a person wonder if they were dealing with a mute.

She turned and arched an eyebrow. "All of that and more. You are a Jedi Healer are you not?"

The question was one he heard often for you do not see healers built like professional sports stars every day. Often he heard that question asked in a tone of contempt, but not this time. It was simple curiosity. "Yes I am, my speciality is combat trauma but I do good work as a general surgeon when it's required. Why do you ask?"

"Are the guards still outside the door? Do they wait with chains and force suppressors to carry me away to some dull prison?"

There was something badly wrong here and for the life of him, he could not work out exactly what it was. She was certainly sad and depressed to his eyes. "Guards? They left after the first day by order of the Grand Master of the Jedi Council. You have not answered my question by the way."

"No, I did not. Very well then, since it seems obvious you do not know who I am. Allow me to introduce myself. I am or was, Darth Nox, of the Dark Council of the Sith Empire and... I am so very afraid, you see I know I am going to die soon." She slumped down on to the bed and stared at the floor.

"Gosh." He was on fine form today he realised. "Err, pleased to make you acquaintance I guess."

Her head snapped up and she grinned, the grin became a chuckle, a guffaw and then a full-throated laugh. It was a surprisingly throaty laugh and caused a few sensations he thought he had trained himself to ignore.

Tears streaming down her face she gave him a glorious smile. "Thank you."

"Thank you? For what?"

"For the first true laugh I have had in years."

"So, do you feel up to talking?" He hoped she wanted to talk about something because if he had to start the conversation it was not going to go well or last long.

She thought on the question for several minutes, several long minutes, which started him worrying that she had decided to stay silent again. "Yes, but on one condition?"

"Oh? And that would be?"

"Is there a garden around here, somewhere to walk in the green and smell the air, somewhere open without nearby walls."

He blinked. It was not that odd a request and he knew of several gardens that various groups maintained around the medical annex but it was more the tone of her voice that caught his interest than the question itself. There was a strong, very strong yearning in it that intrigued him. "Yes, I know of such a place." She was up and standing beside the door before he finished speaking. The speed with which she moved startled him. "I take it that is a yes?" Grinning to take any sting from the comment he paused, she grinned back and t his surprise the years melted away from her features, especially around her eyes.

"Oh! You might want to lock this away first." She held out a familiar metal tube slightly under thirty-five centimetres long. He took it carefully before examining it closely.

"Beautiful craftsmanship, is that cortosis and electrum inlayed over a mandalorian alloy casing?"

Shock flowed across her face at his words. "Yes it is. You know you sabre designs."

"I loved building lightsabers. It used to drive my Master nuts. The precision and artisanship, the attention to detail to make something beyond just a simple weapon look beautiful and function at its utmost peak. It appealed to me, probably one of the reasons why many considered me a good surgeon. May I?" Gar'vin asked carefully while indicating the power interlock switch.

She nodded. "I... I'll trust you not to cut your fingers off."

There was an enormous amount of tension behind the words of that comment and he looked hard at her trying to divine the reason, he even went so far as to reach out through the Force and try to probe her. He flinched as he hit a wall of pain and grief so intense he felt physically sick for one brief instant.

Adriarnna felt that touch and his abrupt withdrawal. She turned away, but not quick enough for him to see the tears that spilled from her eyes.

He concentrated on the hilt in his hands, running probing fingers delicately over its surface. In a recess towards the base he found a curious set of what he at first were a set of inset screws. Thinking about it a moment he realised his mistake and marvelled at the idea as the truth came to him. They were fine adjustments controls, inset to avoid accidental changes but still included so the weapon could be more easily tuned and adjusted with requiring the normal near complete stripping down of the shell. Flicking off the lock, he thumbed the switch and gasped at the shimmering orange plasma blade that appeared. He could feel the steady hum of the field modulator circuit and the smooth flow of two power sources.

"A Diatium power cell and something else I think, maybe a discharge energy cell too?"

He watched her turn part way around and nod.

"How many crystals do you use? The hilt is longer than is normal so I would guess at two at least but without opening it up and looking?"

"Three, the hilt holds three. When I first obtained the hilt there was only the two crystals in place but the internal mounts allowed for three. When I replaced the synthetic red for something special I added a third, somehow it just felt right."

"An orange blade? It is an unusual colour and certainly beautiful but not at all what I would have expected from..." He bit off the rest of his words.

"From a Sith. Red does seem to be something of a trademark for them but as I said it never felt right. Synthetics have their uses but ever since I recovered my great grandfather's darksaber a synthetic red always felt uncomfortable." She rubbed the tips of her fingers over the hilt in his hand. "This just feels right."

"So which crystal combinations did you use in the matrix chamber?" He asked powering down the weapon and securing the interlock. That safety interlock told him much about its owner it was a rare addition. He offered the hilt back.

She faced him fully at the gesture. Eyes wide and mouth open she did not attempt to keep the shock off her features. "But, but don't you want to lock it away safe?"

The open shock in that question revealed more to him. "No, if you had been considered dangerous it would have been secured long ago. Besides, trust must start somewhere."

That produced a penetrating look followed by a long slow nod. She clipped the hilt to her belt but not before ensuring, he watched as she removed both energy cells. He appreciated the trust she showed in return.

The walk through the annex to the meditation gardens distracted the pair as the chattered excitedly about the design and construction of lightsaber's. They started with the types of crystals that amplified and coloured the plasma streams of the weapons before quickly moving on to other areas of design. Neither noticed the stares of the others they passed, some shocked, some amused, some grim and some few stared in open disbelief.

"I can understand your point on the activation stud, but I prefer an interlock now. It avoids the potential for certain unfortunate incidents!" She spoke slowly, considering her words before uttering them.

"But you must see that an interlock means a slow activation of the device, a situation that must surely be fatal in a combat situation?"

"That's correct but then so is having a being untrained in the use of the lightsaber pick it up and press the activation stud by accident. The results can be... Unfortunate." He stopped and stared at her catching the intensity of emotion on the last word, it was so at odds with the earlier excited chatter of their shared interest.

"We seemed to have touched upon something that pains you. Forgive me, but I must ask why?" They had stopped before a glass double door beyond which a large garden spread out under the yellow sunlight. He was startled in the act of opening the door by her hand slamming against it.

"Is this what this talk is all about? Discovering my reasons for coming to the Jedi Order, for surrendering to the Republic?"

They were so lost in staring at each other, him wondering what had provoked her anger and her in anger and fear. So wrapped up in their stare were they that they both jumped at the soft voice that answered.

"We did wonder about that, but then we have the solemn word of the Jedi Master whom you saved on Tatooine that you are not the same Darth Nox who spared his life. He swears that the darkness I see within you is a mere shadow compared to his encounter with you. That one reason alone was sufficient for us to grant you sanctuary, there are other reasons of course but I would like to hear your answer to Healer Gar'vin's question."

They turned and stared at the serene face of one of the most well known of the Jedi Order at that time.

"Grand Master Shan?" He stuttered out.

"Master Shan, it has been a long time." A brief pause as the two women exchanged looks.

"I grieve for your loss."

That produced a pained look upon the Grand Master's face, an expression that quickly vanished. "You know about that?"

"I do, you have my sympathies."

That produced an even more startled look from both Jedi's as the words came naturally from the lips of the Sith.

"How?"

The Twi'lik stared through the door towards the distant peaks of the mountains. They both waited for her reply.

"Call it, a mother's intuition perhaps? The information is out there, was out there for all to find."

He watched Master Shan's face work through a range of emotions before settling upon confusion.

"Why?"

The Twi'lik pushed the door open and stepped through, they followed and watched as she stretched in the sun before turning back to face us.

"I lost my lover because of my anger. I lost my daughter because of my carelessness. I nearly lost my soul because of the war between us. Of the three, the one I miss the most is my daughter." She stared directly into Master Shan's eyes. "She was beautiful, a free spirit untainted by the brutality that the galaxy inflicts upon many of us. It was a stupid mistake, a stupid, stupid mistake." She turned that stared upon the healer. "A child is curious about everything. She was watching as I exercised one morning. A simple slip, my hand was damp from the workout, the hilt slipped; she picked it up and touched the activation stub before I could react. The blade... the blade..."

Master Shan was there before he could catch the Twi'lik.

"Let it out, let it all out. Give me your pain. Don't let it consume you Adriarnna."

He jerked back at the name, recognising it as one that the Jedi Order had been following for many years. This woman was that Sith! Considered, not one of the most dangerous or cunning in the Empire for there were certainly many that those titles could be applied to but one whose determination and dedication to the Empire had wrought havoc among the many plans of the Republic and whose skills had let her slip through all the snares set by the Order.

"Let it out Adriarnna, let it all out." He watched as Master Shan cradled the woman in her arms and crooned softly in a soothing voice, rocking her shuddering frame gently in her arms.

The words came as whisper on the wind. "She was my world, she would be everything I was and was not only better. A new start and I failed to protect her. I killed her with my world, my terrible, ugly world." The wail echoed around the garden scaring the birds and small creatures into silence.

"It's not too late. You can start again. You can..."

"Kill me. Kill the Sith before you, the Sith bitch who has stymied the Jedi and the Republic so many times, the schutta who the Galactic Republic's Senate has issued an unconditional death warrant for."

Master Shan recoiled in horror at the words. Gar'vin froze in shock at the words and the sincere pleading with which they had been uttered.

"PLEASE! I have caused too much pain, too much terror and horror all in the name of the Empire and I've fallen so very far into the darkness I cannot see my path. I no longer see the light. Please, I beg of you to end it. End me."

"No."

"PLEASE! Look at my true self and tell me no, look at me without this illusion and see the damage the dark side causes." Her appearance rippled and returned, her skin just a fraction lighter, her eyes glowed a faint red but the most significant change was the face, it had aged, aged from grief I would have said not from the corruption of the dark side.

"You are mistaken Adriarnna, you never were completely lost to the dark side. Have you not gazed upon reflection in a mirror? Here, look." Grand Master Shan pointed to a reflecting pool and Adriarnna reluctantly turned in obedience.

He looked closer at her through the force, taking his time and looking with the precision that made him the superior healer he was within the Jedi Order. The dark was there, in great swathes and yet it was contained, surrounded by threads of light that bound it, confined it without strain. This woman was not lost yet and then he saw the thing he least expected. Some called it the core being, others the soul but he simply referred to it as the centre. It was so faint he almost missed it, but it glowed with a delicate light, and it appeared so very fragile. This woman, this Sith had walked the dark path for a long time he realised, walked it and not lost sight of the light. The death of her child had finally made her stop and turn away but at enormous expense to herself and now, she stood on the lip of the abyss, staring without fear into its depths. She was but one final step from hurling herself into oblivion to escape the pain. She sought death as a release from that pain and yet that very same pain prevented her from taking that final step.

"This... this is a trick, the decay, the pale skin, the glaring eyes why do I not see them, what have you done to me?"

"I did nothing to you accept offer comfort, you have done this yourself Adriarnna, and you have stepped back from the dark side. You walked the path of destruction and stopped. A few more steps and you would have found redemption. Adriarnna Starstrider, you have been redeeming yourself in the Living Force. Look closer and tell me what you see."

Adriarnna wiped the tears from her eyes, before forcing herself to turn back to the water mirror. "It's me but how? The taint is negligible, the last time I looked in a mirror..." The voice trailed off slowly as she reached up hesitantly to feel her own features.

Grand Master Shan stepped quietly back, tapping Healer Gar'vin on the shoulder. He followed her silently away from the woman.

"You understand what is taking place here today?"

Gar'vin looked back at the pool before answering. "Some of it maybe, maybe none of it but I am not sure. All I know is that Lady Adriarnna is but a step or two from collapse. Physically I would say she has been through hell, mentally I do not know, It 's not my field and I would really prefer bringing in a specialist to consult with but If you want a layman's opinion?"

Grand Master Shan nodded.

"I'd guess she's on the point of a breakdown. She is emotionally unbalanced and highly conflicted. She keeps jumping back and forth between mental states; she has a death wish but knows it is for the wrong reasons and she carries more guilt within her than I have ever seen a single person hold onto. At the same time, I do not know but I think she is looking for a path, an emotional escape hatch, something to point the way through it all. The problem is she is slap bang in the centre of it all and overwhelmed. In simple terms think of her as a lost child in a large forest trying to find the way home, she knows she is lost, she knows there are, multiple ways out, but all she can see is trees and not the forest or the path."

The interruption came from a soft-spoken voice nearby. Gar'vin flinched, Satele smiled.

"I agree the question is will you help an enemy?"

"No Adriarnna, the important question is what is it you want?" Replied Master Shan.

"Help."

"And why do you think the Jedi Order can help you, a powerful and respected Sith? Why would we want to?"

"I... I have no one else to turn to that I trust to do the right thing and I don't know why, maybe because I asked, Master Shan?"

Gar'vin watched the two women talk, he was aware of a subtle underplay between the two, something that connected them, allowing them to talk as if old friends. As he watched, he became aware of something else, someone else at the very edge of his perception. Slowly he turned around. Seated on a bench a short distance away was the faint outline of a Twi'lek woman, a woman he had never seen before.

"Either you are a force spirit or I am working a lot harder than I think I am."

The spirit laughed easily. "I really did not know if you would be able to see me Healer. I am very pleased you can. Tell me, do you think you can help my granddaughter? She is at a very delicate point in her journey and while I am forbidden from directly interfering I am not above indirect means."

"Hence you're appearing to me. May I ask who you are?"

"Kallig, Sha'larla Kallig, born of Supisy Secura. And I would ask of you to keep my clan name from my granddaughter, at least for now."

"And what do you wish me to do to help her, Sha'larla?"

The spirit leered at him. "I want you to 'bed her'." Sha'larla roared with laughter at the horrified expression that swept across his face. "No, just help her in any way you are willing and able to. Her problems lie in the mind and the heart, Healer. She already walks upon the path to redemption, the loss of her daughter though may make her throw herself irretrievably into the abyss and I will not stand idly by and see that happen."

"You care a great deal for her. For one so far removed from your time."

Sha'larla looked steadily into the face of Gar'vin. "That girl is like looking at myself in a mirror, it is frightening Healer. She has been through hell so many times. She brought my Aloysius peace and redeemed him. She brought Aloysius and me together in the hinterland of the Force. Yes, I care for her, both as kin and friend. Tell me healer, did you know that every Sith Witch, every Sorcerer has the power to heal as well as destroy? Not that many of them ever bother to learn more than that which they need for use upon themselves."

"I knew they had some minor ability but nothing of any great extent, why?"

"A common ground Gar'vin, a place to start. My granddaughter holds so much knowledge within her it would stagger the Chief Librarian of the Jedi Order. Ah, I must go before she sees me. Remember my words young man, remember my words."

As he watched, the spirit faded away.

"Who was that?" Grand Master Shan asked, walking towards him. "I was unaware you had the ability to commune with Force spirits, you must be more advanced in your studies than we knew."

He stared at the spot where the ghost had sat for several minutes before turning. Adriarnna still knelt beside the pool, her posture now one of deep meditation. "A worried mother Grand Master, a worried Sith mother." He nodded to Adriarnna. "You calmed her I see, maybe you have hidden talents too Grand Master Shan."

"Maybe or maybe just an understanding and a few more years experience. Healer Gar'vin I want you to hand all but your most pressing medical cases onto others and concentrate on Adriarnna. Force knows why but I have the strongest feeling she is meant to be here among us, the why will reveal itself in time."

"Yes Grand Master."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

The young girl eased the ventilation grill aside before lowering herself from the air duct. For a long moment, she crouched immobile atop the stacked shipping containers that lined one side of the maintenance hangar. Retrieving a small device from an inside pocket, she stared intently at it once more before slipping it safely away. "Okay, the scanner says its all clear, so get your ass down here K'vin. I don't want to get caught in here if someone decides today is the day to run maintenance on this thing."

Muffled cursing came from the ducting above her. "I'm coming, Lynny. I'm not exactly as small as you, you know." Smirking to herself she didn't reply instead peering around through the gloom once more.

This particular hangar was currently restricted and she like many others wanted to know why. Unlike the others she had allowed K'vin against her better judgement to persuade her that they should go and find out. Working with the teenager K'vin was a pain for her, he was always suggesting they should get together and check one place or another just to be alone with her. Unfortunately he had been the only one of the older kids brave enough to actually help plan this incursion. She was seriously regretting the decision now.

For three days they watched and observed the security patrols. Not once in all that time spent watching had she or K'vin seen anyone enter or leave the building. However, having caught K'vin asleep one time she doubted the veracity of his reports, but in the end her curiosity won out.

For over three standard months now no one had been allowed to approach or enter this remote hangar. No one she talked to knew why though many hinted it had something to do with a strange ship that had visited the planet the day before the restriction had been put into effect.

The entire colony knew about the strange ship that had landed in the middle of night three months ago. They colony had its share of night workers and radio technicians after all. One had been listening to the radio chatter between the bored Port Authority and the ships in orbit as they talked about the latest events out in the galaxy. The priority signal had changed all that as the scrambled communications resulted in a slew of instructions to the other ships to change their orbits. The colony's technician had alerted a barely awake friend who he knew possessed a telescope, the result was a dozen or so images of the strange ship as it performed a fast re-entry, but the images had been blurred by the glowing plasma corona surrounding the ship as it passed through the atmosphere overhead.

In the morning there was no ship parked on the wide ceramcrete field of the spaceport, nor any sign in the distributed revetments or apron areas. Most suspected that this remote maintenance hangar was where it now sat parked, assuming it had not left already.

The question everyone at the colony asked the morning afterwards was who had arrived on the ship and why they had come in the first place. In the months since the question had turned to idle speculation and curiosity before fading from the memory of most.

K'vin was one who did not forget, he became convinced the ship was here in this hangar and he wanted to know what it was and maybe get inside for a look around, so had she. It had only taken him five minutes to persuade her to help him sneak in.

She was in the act of climbing down from the topmost container when the voice spoke from the shadows. "I think the pair of you had better come down from there at once. Better be careful though lass, your fat friend may knock you off when he finally pulls himself out of that duct."

Without thinking, she twisted wildly around, ignoring the surprised squawking and scrambling sounds emanating from the inside of the air duct. The abrupt movement and burst of fear caused her to slip. With a scream of terror, she felt herself falling backwards as hands and arms flailed for purchase. She dropped nearly twenty meters before smashing against the protruding edge of one of the lower containers. Brief agony erupted throughout her body, her scream cut off as blackness washed over. She never knew she struck the floor with a heavy thud and the dry cracking sound of breaking bones.

"Druk!" Two men sprinted from the nearby shadows.

"Paw'an contact medical immediately! Get a healer in here." The older of the two men was already beside her crumpled body checking for vital signs. "Druk, druk, druk! Tell them to haul ass I can't find a pulse." His hands moved quickly checking delicately for further injuries. His years of experience in on battlefield or another had given him firsthand knowledge of far too many traumas the body can suffer, he was expecting the worst in this instance. "Tell them it's critical. Damn it! Tell them she's dying and get some damned lights on in here." It was the last he said before ignoring his young partner instead, ripping open the small first aid kit he had carried through all his days in the Republic Army, he began fighting against time and his own guilt to keep the girl alive. His focus narrowed to become just her and anything he could do until the real medics arrived. He never felt the tears streaming down his cheeks or the continuous stream of obscenities he uttered. To him there was nothing but the contents of his first aid kit, his knowledge and the girl.

Siom Paw'an screamed, begged and pleaded with the voices of others on his communicator. The only time he stopped talking was to rip the aid kit from his belt and lay it out beside his friend and mentor's. After that Paw'wan did the only things he could, he turned on the lighting system, opened the nearest doors ready for the medical teams on their way and secured the scared boy who had finally climbed down from the stacked containers after Paw'an had threatened to shoot him down from them. Then and only then with nothing more to do did he start praying for the girl.

* * *

Walking back to the room assigned to their guest in the annex, Grand Master Shan and Gar'vin were deep into a discussion with Adriarnna about, of all things, the types and species of rose bushes found throughout the Empire. Suddenly, unexpectedly she groaned loudly and clutched at her head.

Gar'vin instantly stepped forward to support her as she started to slump sideways only to snatch his hands back as Adriarnna's head snapped up. Head snapping back and forth for a moment she surged abruptly forward down the corridor breaking into a run, a run soon enhanced with a powerful burst of the Force behind it.

Both he and Satele heard her shout as she vanished beyond a bend in the corridor.

"NOOOOOooooooo! Not again, never again."

Satele stretched out with the force, picking out Adriarnna among the myriad of others. There was a rising tide of pain and panic within the woman. The pain though came from another through the ex-Sith. She sensed also a burning determination to protect whomever it was projecting that pain. Even as she called upon the force to follow, she detected the many subtle manipulations coming from Adriarnna as she gently moved those in her path aside.

Satisfied the Twi'lik intended no harm she began following, shouting instructions over her shoulder as she increased her speed. "Gar'vin, contact Central Authority, Adriarnna is not to be stopped or detained unless she harms anyone. Tell them to broadcast a warning through the compound, clear everyone out of our way and then follow us." With that, she was gone, her run now increased by a burst of speed from the Force.

Gar'vin stood for one brief moment in the middle of corridor, a small voice in the back of his mind telling him, life was about to become very interesting. Snapping back to the present he jogged to a communications panel set into the wall near this floors nursing station. Seconds later, he passed the instructions to the duty officer in Central Authority; a young man who stopped blustering the moment that Grand Master Shan's name was cited as the source of the orders.

Even before he severed the link, the overheard speakers were crackling into life. Gar'vin did not bother to listen instead he was running as fast as he could for the nearest exit from the building.

Satele rushed past many startled faces as she followed the Twi'lik, mentally cursing herself for spending too much time behind a desk these days and promising to find more time to exercise. She burst through a set of doors in time to watch Adriarnna throw off her robe and break into a long legged run still enhanced by the force.

"Damn! That woman can move!"

There was movement to her left as she spotted one of the Knights of the Order settling behind the controls of a speeder, she did not hesitate but leapt in beside him.

"Knight Odur, no questions but follow that Twi'lek." She pointed at the distant figure. Odur looked startled at the sudden appearance but grinned happily, as he gunned the engine and took off in pursuit. Satele panted beside him and hung on, muttering under her breath. "I hate flying!"

Adriarnna sensed the slowing pulse of life through the force. The pain had struck her like a physical blow at first. That first brief moment of confusion before the fear and terror came crashing down as the mind numbing realization that they were dying arrived. That corner of her mind that she feared to face, opened and the memories flooded out. She had felt this all before, many times before but this was just too fresh, too similar to the feelings of her daughter in those few minutes of life.

She had failed once before she refused to fail again.

In the rapidly approaching distance rose the domes and towers of the spaceport, she reached out for that one thread among many that she wanted and veered slightly, heading for a single remote hangar beyond a cluster of buildings on the far side of the landing field and parking apron. The speeding vehicles heading for the same destinations she ignored as she ignored the frantic waving and shouts of ground crews as she sped directly across the active landing strip and the path of the aero shuttle that was touching down.

Several vehicles clustered with flashing lights before the great doors of the hangar, doors that groaned as they opened to admit an emergency vehicle as ran towards them. A Jedi Knight talking with local security looked up in surprise as she ran past heading for the widening gap. He extended a hand to slow or stop her, his face registering shock as unexpectedly he flipped backwards to sprawl face up across the roof of another vehicle. Others found themselves gently lifted and moved rapidly out of the Twi'liks path.

Inside Knight Loo'kar was unaware of everything going on around him, his entire attention focused on doing everything he knew or could improvise to keep this girl alive. So focused was he on his task that the first he knew of the Twi'lik was her red skinned hands appearing beside his on the girl's chest.

"What happened? How soon will healers be here?"

He blinked as the voice penetrated his consciousness, its tone insistent and demanding yet gentle at the same time. "Caught the pair sneaking in, challenged them, startled the girl, she fell, think she smashed against the edge of a container. Shock stopped her hearts, I got one going but too afraid to push the other with all the bone damage I can feel around it. Trying to keep her going long enough for a proper healer to get here, think she has two maybe three minutes left I before I lose her altogether." He never stopped working, keeping the girl's heart beating as he spoke.

"I can help but you'll need to keep her steady, can do?"

"Sure, but what are..." He shut up as he felt the world around them grow dim. The Force acting in a way that was strange and unknown to him. Then suddenly he felt it. The force flowed into the stranger who carefully positioned her hands over of the girl's hearts. He heard the soft whispers of an incantation and his eyes widened in shock as he recognised the ancient Sith language. Before he could react, before he could even say anything or grab the others hands a purple glow sprang into existence around those hands, slowly growing to spread across the girl's chest, spreading further and further to slowly encompass the whole body. His hands and arms where they touched the girl tingled with a pleasant sensation as the heart began beating stronger.

Looking up finally he stared in shock at the face just centimetres from his, recognising her for who she was and yet there were obvious differences. This woman was older, the skin a solid healthy red than the faded pale pink of years of reconnaissance images once showed, the purple eyes glowing a soft gold instead of intense red and the features taut with intense concentration. Most shocking of all was the openly shown concern instead of the remembered glacial indifference. The girl shuddered, starting to convulse and he felt forced to apply Force Stasis upon the girl to stop her moving. He could feel it now though, the flow of the living force through this Sith and into the girl, seeking out the damage and repairing it, bones realigning themselves and knitting together at an incredible rate, torn muscles and tissues groping for the ruptured ends to rejoin to. It was unlike anything he had witnessed before.

Grand Master Shan dashed through the doors to slide to stop at the sight before her. Knight Odur almost colliding with her while seconds later Healer Gar'vin did run into his back. All three of them plus others just arriving stared wide eyed as the purple glow around Adriarnna pulsed and writhed angrily while the purple glow around the crumpled body flowed smoothly and shone steadily.

Master Tian walked over to Satele.

"I see it, I don't believe it but I see it. A full Sith healing trance! As I live and breathe I never thought I would..."

"She's dying! She's killing herself to save the girl." Gar'vin's announcement turned heads all around him.

"What?" Squeaked Satele.

"Good." Harrumphed Tian.

"Can you not feel it, sense it. She's pulling the Living Force from all around her to boost the effect but she's giving her life force to the girl, augmenting it with the Living Force to heal her injuries, but, but the Sith way requires the healer to freely give up some of their own life force, it's why they seldom do it. At least like this. It is a voluntary sacrifice, a life for a life. I have to interrupt this trance but I don't know enough about it to know if it will harm or kill either one or both."

Astonished faces turned back to the two kneeling over the girl. Adriarnna was slumping forward now, the colour fading from her skin as it grew paler with each passing second. Gar'vin stepped forward to place both hands on the shoulders of Adriarnna and gently pulled her upright.

"_I need you to stop this Adriarnna. I need you to step aside and let me heal her."_

"_Lynny, Lynivere, her name is Lynivere and I dare not stop. The... the damage is too great. I'm afraid I'll lose her again if I do."_

"_You have to stop Adriarnna, you must, do you not know what you are doing to yourself?"_

"_I know. I made the choice long before I got here but what better way to die than keeping another alive. To finally find the peace and redemption I seek in an act of sacrifice."_

"_NO! I will not allow you to do this, there is another way."_

He placed one hand atop hers as a golden light sprang up to surrounded all four of them. As each second ticked by the glow grew brighter, becoming more and more intense.

"_Stop it Gar'vin! You must stop it. What you're doing will kill you."_

"_Like what you're doing won't kill you? I am merely copying what you do. Please, Adriarnna let me show you another way. Learn what I do, what I know. Learn how a Jedi Healer uses the Force to heal. Watch how I draw upon the Force, shape it, and guide it to where it will do the most good. See how I replenish myself as I heal. Copy me. Don't bludgeon the Force into healing with this insane trance of the Sith, just guide it. Don't surrender your own life to save another. See what I do and modify what you do. Adjust, adapt and change."_

Adriarnna felt tired, very tired, she knew she could not keep the trance going much longer, her limbs shook from the strain and her every joint pained her. Reaching out she watched Gar'vin and gasped at how easily the Force responded to his coaxing. Slowly she drew back and copied some of his technique, the fatigue she felt lessened. She altered her approach again and felt the second heart thump beneath her hand.

To those watching, including the just arrived emergency medical team, the colours around the four on the floor changed, fading from green and purple to the brilliant golden hue of a familiar healing trance that they all knew.

Adriarnna slumped to the side, unconsciousness claiming her, her now pale pink skin slowly deepening back to the more natural red. The EMTs scooped her up.

While they tended to the older Twi'lik, the golden sphere slowly dissipated and the second EMTs moved in. Satele herself pulled Gar'vin to his feet his eyes glistening with tears as he turned to look at her.

"Gods, that was close. She would make a formidable healer if she were a trained Healer, as it is, her power nearly matched mine but she is so unsure and uncomfortable healing. " He turned back around to look where they were laying Adriarnna upon a stretcher. His face changing as he became thoughtful. "The determination she had to save that kid, it was scary. She would have gladly sacrificed her life if that were what it took, she almost did anyway." He mused over the event for a few minutes while Masters Tian and Shan discussed the situation. Grand Master Shan taking the opportunity of informing the other of the Sith's strange behaviour since arriving.

The senior healer from the EMTs interrupted his thoughts. "Healer, who is that? I know who she looks like and that trance was unique but who is she?"

"Who do you think she is?"

"A Sith, a very experienced Sith I would say, but what she just did, how she behaved, it just doesn't make sense. I mean did you see just how quickly she adapted, modified her trance?"

"Yes, she copied me, though it took a little doing to persuade her. She learned in seconds what it took me years to do."

Master Tian stepped forward just then, Ignoring Gar'vin she addressed the EMT healer. "Did that 'Sith' harm the child at all? Is there any signs she left her foul taint behind?" There was a world of hate behind the words. Those nearest narrowed their eyes before turning to glare at the unconscious Adriarnna in suspicion.

The senior EMT specialist glared at the Jedi Master, he did not attempt at all to hide his disgust. "That woman you curse for being a Sith, 'Master' Tian, just saved that child's life almost at the expense of her own if Healer Gar'vin had not intervened. Hardly an act I would expect from a 'Sith'." Openly glaring once more the entire Emergency Medical Team turned their backs upon her, the senior making a point to sniff as if some foul smell was nearby before walking away.

Tian glared at his back a moment, her fingernail digging into the palms of her hands with her anger before switching her glare upon Gar'vin as he coughed to attract her attention.

"You are a Master of the Jedi Oder, Master Tian. A member of the Jedi Council even but your hate and arrogance will be your downfall. At this moment you act more like the Sith than that woman who once was a Sith Lord. Now if you will excuse me I have patients that need me." Without waiting, Gar'vin nodded to Grand Master Shan and walked away.

Satele stared for a long moment; she had never seen Tian behave this way before. "There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge." She quoted softly. "I suggest Master Tian that you ask a few questions about a guest of the Order before insulting them, especially when that guest has done no deed or action to warrant such behaviour. Oh, and I think you need to meditate upon the code, Master Tian." She too walked away.

Tian stood there, eyes fixed upon the emergency vehicle. Ignoring everyone else, she was completely oblivious that all within hearing had turned their backs upon her. Schooling her features into the proper look of a Master Jedi she walked slowly away and yet inside she seethed with hate and anger. She could not understand why that Sith scum had been allowed to move around the Temple grounds freely. "Do they not know how deadly that schutta is?" She asked herself silently.


End file.
